Who’s Responsible?

12:09 am EST September 7th, 2005 | Politics | 10 Comments


As New Orleans drowns, George W. Bush plays president

One of the tactics of Team Bush (one of these days I’ll write the up, they’ve got a playbook with only about 4 plays on it – it’s a testament to the organizational stupidity of the Democrats that they haven’t countered them yet – you’d think Steve Spurrier was coaching) is to kick the can down the street so they have time to get their stories straight for the inevitable coverup. As Arianna Huffington points out, the messaging is out there (anyone who wants to probe why George Bush got thousands of citizens killed is playing “the blame game”) and President Clinton, press his heart, is giving them cover.

The leadership of this nation was not doing their jobs, and many people are dead while others (including babies) were subjected to indignities no American should have to face. Now is exactly the time to hunt down the guilty.

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10 Responses to “Who’s Responsible?”

  1. AlexCorrigan says:
    September 7, 2005 at 1:09 am

    OW, I think it is safe to put all the Bushie excuses and blame-shifting propaganda to rest now. I can’t wait for the wingers to parse this:

    Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana

    (Copy here, just in case the Bushies catch on and delete the above-linked page from the White House website.)

  2. Mike says:
    September 7, 2005 at 2:09 am

    No parsing necessary, Alex. Thankfully we have the Washington Post to fill in the post-memorandum details:

    “Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday [August 26], the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state s emergency operations center said Saturday.

    The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law.”

    And from another WaPo story:

    “Other federal and state officials pointed to Louisiana’s failure to measure up to national disaster response standards, noting that the federal plan advises state and local emergency managers not to expect federal aid for 72 to 96 hours, and base their own preparedness efforts on the need to be self-sufficient for at least that period. ‘Fundamentally the first breakdown occurred at the local level,’ said one state official who works with FEMA. ‘Did the city have the situational awareness of what was going on within its borders? The answer was no.’”

    We can rightly fault FEMA for typical bureaucratic bumbling, mismanagement of resources and a brainless application of regulations when plain common sense would have produced much better results.

    But to keep arguing that the Bush administration “did nothing” is really starting to look stupid now.

  3. Oliver says:
    September 7, 2005 at 3:09 am

    Yes, FEMA should wait 96 hours because they can’t turn on CNNMSNBCFOX and see that New Orleans is fucking flooding. Christ, the lengths you people will go to.

    Oh, and much of the story you’re flogging is bogus.

  4. frameone says:
    September 7, 2005 at 9:09 am

    MIke –

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Check the dateline on the WaPo article you cite:

    By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Spencer Hsu
    Washington Post Staff Writers
    Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A01

    NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3 –

    The article was written Sept. 3 and published Sept. 4. The Friday in question is not Aug 26th but Sept. 2. How in the hell are we supposed to take you guys seriously if you don’t even know how to read a fucking newspaper article?

    And again for crying out loud, that very same WaPo article ran with this correction:

    Correction to This Article
    A Sept. 4 article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina incorrectly said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) had not declared a state of emergency. She declared an emergency on Aug. 26.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

  5. AlexCorrigan says:
    September 7, 2005 at 10:09 am

    See? Parse, evade, and lie. What will these incompetent, cowardly cretins (the Bushies, that is) have to do before their winger sycophants give up on them? Maybe if we can get Dubya to lie about a blow job!

  6. frameone says:
    September 7, 2005 at 10:09 am

    To bad Bush was only on Good Morning America and not under oath when he said “no one could have anticipated that the levees would break.” Oh, wait, he may not have been lying, he may just be totally incompetent. Phew, what a relief.

  7. No Time To Think says:
    September 7, 2005 at 10:09 am

    Not A Blame Game, Just Blame

    When an effort is tragically ineffective, it makes sense to figure out why. When an operation is failing, it makes sense to determine if someone is incompetent and needs to be removed. When hundreds of people die horrible and needless…

  8. Dugger says:
    September 7, 2005 at 10:09 am

    Alex said,

    “Maybe if we can get Dubya to lie about a blow job!”

    Hmm. Could this be a reference to Pres Clinto lying under oath in a sexual harasssment deposition?

    “In a scathing 32-page ruling, Judge Susan Webber Wright said Clinton testified falsely in a Jan. 17, 1998, deposition that he had not had sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky. Judge Wright, of Federal District Court in Little Rock, Ark., said the President’s actions had subverted the rule of law and violated Ms. Jones’s right to information relevant to her case”

    Dugger, Remembers

  9. elrod says:
    September 7, 2005 at 11:09 am

    Mike,
    The problem with that article is that the 72 hour clock begins when the Governor declares a State of Emergency.She did so on August 26. (The reason for the 72 hour rule is to get Federal assets in place. By most indications, Federal assets WERE in place by the time the storm passed on August 29.) 72 hours later was August 29 wen New Orleanians woke up to horrible hurricane damage and a busted Industrial Canal levee. By Hour 84 (late Monday) the 17th street levee broke and the entire city flooded. By Hour 96, Tuesday, the Feds were supposed to be in complete control. They did nothing for three days, waiting until Friday to send in the troops. Now why did they send in troops and aid on Friday and not Tuesday? Did Blanco sign some sort of guard federalization order? Did she authorize Posse Comitatus? No, she didn’t need to do any of these things according to the National Response Plan of the Department of Homeland Security. She did all that she was legally required to do on August 26. The Feds dropped the ball beginning when it was clearly in their court.

  10. TR88 says:
    September 7, 2005 at 11:09 am

    Hey, you can’t insult Spurrier! He’s my hero!
    …
    I think I’m being injured by Katrina; it can’t be good for my heart to erupt in rage every time I hear the bullshit brigade spout their crap. And I’ll probably become a crime statistic if I finally scream at some dittohead vomiting out excuses for bush and company, a gange that should instead be charged with negligent homicide.
    …
    future headline….

    KATRINA: BUSH RESPONDS
    Declares war on farting cows
    …
    (re Spurrier; we need to at least chuckle occasionally. I actually do like Spurrier. I liked his verbal jabs, and as a UF addict, I loved his dominance of Georgia. And I respected him for walking away from the NFL. He recognized that he was failing. But I don’t worry about people who strongly dislike or despise him. It’s trivia.)